Hassan Malik, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Betty Williams, 28, whom he killed, stuffed into a suitcase, then placed among a pile of sidewalk trash on a New York City street three days before Christmas in 2010, reports the Daily Mail.

As the 57-year-old man heard his 20-year prison sentence, he turned to his victim’s family in the Manhattan courtroom and apologized.

Watch the footage of Malik leaving the body on a Harlem street here:

Williams and Malik had been living together and were romantically involved. Malik confessed to authorities that he and his then-lady-love got in to a heated argument that somehow became violent.

He admitted to police investigators that he had, in a fit of rage, hit Williams repeatedly over the head with a cast-iron frying pan. The man then went on describe how he eventually murdered her.

According to his confession, Malik managed to grab hold of an electrical cord that was attached to his VCR machine, overpowered Williams, then wrapped it tightly several times around her neck until she drew her last breath.

The military vet, who was on parole at the time of the murder for previous drug offenses, told police that he managed to stuff her fully clothed body in to a black suitcase, then wheeled the piece of luggage to a location where trash was strewn about — a few blocks from his home — and abandoned it near some garbage cans.

The young woman’s body was discovered by a resident in the neighborhood who was rummaging through the garbage when he opened the suitcase and made the gruesome find.

Malik was also monitored by a close circuit neighborhood TV and its footage depicted him abandoning the luggage on the sidewalk.